Geneva Falls to First Place Thiel

Greenville, PA - Heading to Thiel College to face the Tomcats′ men′s basketball team was not exactly what the doctor ordered for a Geneva College team that had dropped three straight including a 52-point loss to nationally ranked Wooster on Wednesday night. While Geneva managed to hang around throughout the first half and most of the second half, the first place Tomcats proved to be too much in the end with a 73-56 decision over Geneva. The Golden Tornadoes fell to 3-10 overall and 2-3 in the PAC while Thiel continued to roll at 9-4 and 6-0 in conference play.

Geneva led briefly early in the first half but managed to stay within striking distance for most of the first half thanks to a solid 44% shooting effort in the first 20 minutes. The bad news was that Thiel was hitting shots at a 52% clip including a 4-11 mark from three-point range. Despite that hot shooting, Geneva got to the halftime buzzer trailing by only seven points a 36-29. Five minutes into the second half, Thiel had stretched its lead to double digits at 51-38 but Geneva was not finished fighting. Matt Lorello′s three-point play at the 10:30 mark pulled Geneva to within five points at 53-48 but Geneva would not manage to get any closer.

Lorello finished the game with 13 points on 5-8 shooting to go along with five rebounds. His post teammate Lambros Svingos accounted for 11 point. David Phillips led the offensive charge with 21 points on 8-13 from the field. Geneva′s bench was again nearly invisible as it accounted for just two points. The Tomcats didn′t need much help from its bench as four of the five starters finished in double figures led by Devon Adams′ 18 points on a sizzling 7-9 from the field.

Geneva will look to get back into the win column on Wednesday night when it hosts Saint Vincent College in the first home game since December 7th.